Ex-L3Harris Cyber Chief Pleads Guilty in Russian Trade Secrets Plot
▼ Summary
– A former executive at a US defense contractor subsidiary pleaded guilty to selling $1.3 million in trade secrets to a Russian buyer.
– Peter Williams faces 87-108 months in prison, up to $300,000 in fines, and $1.3 million restitution as part of his plea agreement.
– Williams stole seven trade secrets from two companies between April 2022 and June 2025 while working at L3 Harris Trenchant.
– He used an alias and separate contracts to sell the secrets to a Russian software broker while simultaneously overseeing his company’s internal leak investigation.
– Williams admitted to the sales after being confronted by the FBI and will remain under house arrest with electronic monitoring until sentencing next year.
A former cybersecurity director for a major defense contractor has admitted in federal court to selling classified trade secrets valued at over one million dollars to a Russian entity. Peter Williams, a 39-year-old Australian national residing in the United States, entered a guilty plea this week for transferring proprietary information while employed at L3Harris Trenchant, a subsidiary of the prominent defense firm L3Harris Technologies.
Court documents reveal Williams confessed to two counts of trade secret theft, charges that carry a potential prison sentence ranging from 87 to 108 months. He also faces financial penalties reaching $300,000 and has been ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution. His formal sentencing is scheduled for early next year. Under the terms of his current release, Williams remains under house arrest at his apartment, subject to electronic monitoring, with permission to leave his residence for just one hour daily.
Williams held the position of director at L3Harris Trenchant for under a year before resigning in August for undisclosed reasons. His professional background includes a tenure with the Australian Signals Directorate during the previous decade, an agency comparable to the U.S. National Security Agency. The ASD handles cyber defense for Australian government networks and engages in foreign signals intelligence gathering, which involves authorized hacking operations using tools similar to those developed by companies like Trenchant.
Federal prosecutors detailed that between April 2022 and June 2025, Williams illicitly acquired seven trade secrets from two separate companies and sold them to a software broker based in Russia. The indictment does not identify the affected companies nor clarify whether the Russian purchaser had ties to the Russian government. Authorities have confirmed that L3Harris Trenchant itself faces no criminal charges in this matter.
According to U.S. Attorney Tejpal S. Chawla, the Federal Bureau of Investigation notified L3Harris Trenchant in 2024 about a potential leak of its proprietary software. Interestingly, Williams, who then served as general manager, was reportedly overseeing the company’s internal investigation into these very leaks. Prosecutors disclosed during the court hearing that Williams voluntarily met with FBI agents multiple times this past summer, including a session on July 2.
In a startling development, investigators revealed that within the same month as his FBI interviews, Williams entered into a contract worth hundreds of thousands of dollars with the unnamed Russian company. He conducted this transaction using the alias John Taylor and a corresponding email address. This agreement followed another contract he had signed the previous month. When confronted by FBI agents during an August interview about selling company secrets, Williams reportedly admitted his involvement in the illicit sales.
(Source: Wired)
